Australia cricket team bus attacked with rock while returning after win vs India

SHARE:

The Australian cricket team bus was attacked after their win vs India in Guwahati.

The T20I cricket series between India and Australia took a shameful turn on Wednesday. The latter’s team bus was attacked with a rock on their way to hotel from the Barsapara Cricket Stadium here.

The incident occurred after Australia defeated India by eight wickets at the newly built stadium to level the three T20I series 1-1.

No official statement has yet been released by Cricket Australia, Board of Control for Cricket in India or the International Cricket Council regarding the incident.

Australian opener Aaron Finch tweeted a picture of a broken glass window of the bus. “Pretty scary having a rock thrown through the team bus window on the way back to the hotel!!” he wrote on his Twitter account. The post was also retweeted by stand-in captain David Warner.

The second T20I at Barsapara ended at around 10 pm while both the teams left the venue after an hour. The Australian team bus was accompanied by local police and security officials on their way back to the hotel.

No official confirmation

When the Australian team’s media officer was reached regarding players’ safety, there was no reply on the incident. Even the Assam Cricket Association officials also could not be reached.

“While no one was injured, the Australian players were understandably shaken up by the incident,” said a report in the cricket.com.au.

“Players and staff were travelling from the ground back to their team hotel when someone threw a rock, believed to be roughly the size of a cricket ball, at a window on the right-hand side of the bus. The projectile pierced through the glass and ended up inside the bus, shattering the window,” the report added.

This was the first time in seven years that Guwahati hosted an international match and the incident comes as a blot on the hosts.

Attack history

This is not the first time that Australian team bus has come under attack on their tour of the sub-continent.

In September, during their Bangladesh tour, a rock was thrown at Australia’s team bus when it was returning to the hotel after Day 2 of the second Test in Chittagong.

First time in India

However, an incident like this is definitely a first in recent Indian cricket history. While Indian fans are

passionate about their team, throwing stones at a rival team bus is a different case altogether.

During the recently-held ODI series, Steve Smith was booed by spectators at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium after he got out. But Tuesday’s incident in Guwahati has taken it another level.

India’s loss to Australia’s was their first against the team from Down Under in a T20Is after seven straight wins. The series decider is on Friday in Hyderabad. Both the teams will be travelling to the southern city on Wednesday.

But before that this rock-throwing incident is bound to cause embarrassment to Indian cricket.